


A Heartful Cry

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fights, Grief/Mourning, Love, Shukari, canon divergence (kinda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21746479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Aigis had already defeated Akihiko, Ken, Junpei, and Koromaru, now one last battle remained. The battle against Yukari and Mitsuru for the last of the keys to determine their final answer.
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Takeba Yukari, Persona 3 Protagonist/Takeba Yukari, Takeba Yukari/Yuuki Makoto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	A Heartful Cry

**Author's Note:**

> So I had originally already seen what happens in P3 The Answer, but I somehow missed out on the track "A Heartful Cry." A friend of mine recently showed me it and it inspired me to do this.
> 
> I do want to add that I took some liberties mainly derived from P3P and one detail from P4AU.
> 
> With all that said I hope you enjoy!

"Athena!" A voice cried out in the center of the stadium, followed by a thunderous boom.

Aigis successfully defeated both Junpei and Koromaru in battle. She wasn't proud of it… having to fight her dear friends for the sake of a key was the worst possible outcome for her. She wanted to avoid all this conflict, but her indecisiveness led to this and she knew it. And now her friends laid there on the ground; paying the ultimate sacrifice by slowly disintegrating into small flames.

She wished things could have turned out differently; to have talked it out longer with the others. However, such an outcome was no longer an option; she had one more fight to get through and her opponent - Yukari.

Aigis knew how much Makoto meant to her, and in truthfulness she couldn't blame Yukari for wanting to see him again. In fact she too wanted to see him, but the constant fear of whether or not it was the right decision plagued her mind. She shook her head, trying to wash away her doubts and looked ahead towards the door in front of her. 

"It's time." her "sister" Metis spoke softly.

Metis had been the one to arrange the duels she had to endure up until this point. She had supposedly promised Aigis that no matter what her friends would not be harmed, yet they all still turned into flames. Aigis held resentment towards her for that, even if Metis reassured her that they could still be saved; the fact that she was lied to, remained there all the same. Though she couldn't bring herself to focus on that right now; she had to finish this once and for all.

"Ai-chan wait!" Junpei cried out, just barely hanging on to whatever of his body remained. "Save her okay… she's hurting right now, and I understand how she feels… but- argh!"

"Junpei-kun!" Aigis cried out to him wanting to help, despite knowing there wasn't anything she could do. 

"It's okay! This whole flame deal is only temporary right? This is nothing…!" He was breathing raggedly as he tried to hold on. "A-anyway as I was saying… whatever she says or does… don't get mad at her… please."

Junpei's body finally gave in, disintegrating into a flame as it rose to light the torch above the stadium. The path to the next stadium was unlocked; the time for the final decision had come.

She walked through the gate, and looked towards the center. She saw Yukari and Mitsuru standing there just like others had before them. To her surprise neither of women were in a battle stance despite having their weapons drawn. Yukari hung her head low, while Mitsuru stood tall, meeting Aigis' gaze. Aigis wore an expression full of regret as she continued to approach the two women. 

"You're finally here." Yukari said in a low voice. "It's time to decide Aigis… who takes those keys…!"

"Yukari-san I-" 

"What? Are you going to tell me how you wanted to avoid all this??? Haha, don't even bother! You know this has to happen…" Yukari cut her off.

"But it doesn't! I don't want to hurt you anymore! Please just listen to me! I want to do what Makoto-kun would have liked to do!" She pleaded.

The slight mention of Makoto's name sent Yukari into a blinding rage. She never wanted hear Aigis repeat his name again, especially not after what Aigis had "done." She met Aigis' gaze and stared her down with deathly eyes.

"D-don't you dare repeat his name! You have no right to say it! I swear to you Aigis I will take those keys and make you pay!" Tears formed at the corner of eyes as she reached for her Evoker. She pointed it towards her head and let out a yell. "ISIS!"

"Yukari please! I don't want to fight anymore!" Aigis continued to beg.

"It's too late for that, if you won't fight then this'll be over quickly!"

Yukari commanded Isis with a flick of her hand and powerful bursts of garu magic shot towards Aigis. The blasts were stopped just in time by Metis, who sustained the damage head-on.

"What are you doing sister?! Get up and fight!" Metis demanded.

"Metis…y-you're right, I'm sorry for giving up so easily." Aigis eyes glowed blue before she herself summoned her persona. "Athena! I need your help!"

"If it's a two on two, than I too shall join! Artemisia!" Mitsuru summoned her persona and stood by Yukari.

Soon after Metis and Aigis moved on the offensive and began their duel. However, Yukari's swift movements confused Aigis for awhile as she danced around the other two while using Isis as a shield as she approached them and shot her arrows. Mitsuru rushed forward with sheer force, launching large icicles along her path. The sheer power of those two seemed to be too much for both Aigis and Metis as they were being overpowered with no clear entry into Yukari and Mitsuru's defenses. Yet despite the constant barrage Aigis analyzed both of their movements in a much calmer fashion. After a quick scan she realized that Yukari had been out-putting more power than her body could handle at any moment, making it best to wait for a strike. Mitsuru was a much harder guess as the icicles she launched weren't aimed at her, but towards the ground instead. 

Before she could piece it together, Yukari had already made use of the icicles and stared Aigis down directly, blasting her with a wind-infused arrow. The damage sustained was devastating sending Aigis to her knees. Metis returned the hit my placing an elbow strike on Yukari's side sending her flying back against the floor.

Their fight continued on and on neither side was seemingly giving up despite how tired they were. Aigis knew that anymore and all their lives would be forfeit.

"Yukari please stop! None of us will last much longer if we keep this up!" Aigis tried yet again to reach out to Yukari, yet still to no avail..

"Then quit already! Let me have the key dammit!" She yelled with her voice breaking into angry sobs. "I-I just want to see him again! Why can't you understand that?! You'll never understand what he meant to me, your bond with him isn't the same!"

"Yukari…" she said softly.

"I loved him! I was there when he died! I came to him first when his funeral came! So why, why do you get to decide what happens?! Answer me!" Yukari shouted.

"I-I…" she couldn't answer. She didn't know what to say or how to feel. No matter what she said Yukari was right, she didn't share that same bond that Yukari had. No matter what her "feelings" towards Makoto were, he chose Yukari and died with her in the end. So who was she to interfere?

"You're right… I'm so sorry Yukari! I-I give up…" 

"Sister no! You know it to be true that he too cared for you!"

Aigis glared at her "sister." "You don't understand! Yukari-san is right! I'm not the same as her, I could never take her place at his side! Besides it's my fault he died anyways… I sealed death inside him! I caused his death! Can't you see that?!"

"Sister…" Metis stood there in shock unable to say anything to Aigis.

Meanwhile, Yukari only became even more enraged; she felt as though she was being mocked. Aigis playing victim in front of her didn't please her, if she was going to get her way this wasn't it! Her face was riddled with hatred and her eyes began to glow an eerie yellow. She charged a powerful garudyne, hoping that Aigis wouldn't recover from it. She was no longer herself and Mitsuru realized that her "other self" had manifested; taking control of the young brunette.

"Artemisia!" A second later Yukari had become encased in ice, only leaving her face uncovered from the attack.

"What are you doing Mitsuru-senpai?! Let me go!" Yukari's voice had become distorted.

She slapped Yukari, hoping to bring some sense back into the brunette. "No! I agreed to help you because you were my friend! I didn't agree to help you murder Aigis!"

Yukari was upset, but soon after her expression became one of shame. She had lost herself in her fit of rage, so much so that she was willing to kill her friend over it. If Makoto saw her now, she knew he would have been disgusted with her. 

"What the hell have I done… I- I'm the worst person ever…" she said as her eyes began to change back to their original color.

"No, Yukari. I understand the feeling of wanting the ones you love back, but you must know that there are limits to how far you can take those emotions." Mitsuru spoke in a motherly tone.

"You're right… you're so right…" Yukari began to burst into tears as the realization finally hit her. No matter what she had done, deep down she knew Makoto would have never approved of it. She took her selfishness too far and almost murdered a friend for it. She looked to Aigis with shameful, yet sad smile. "Do it. Finish us off… You win…"

Aigis still looked defeated from Yukari's earlier remarks. It didn't matter if she was right, the fact remained that she still had to win. She rose weakly from where she sat and took aim at both Yukari and Mitsuru. She charged and charged hoping that this last shot would be the last she would ever have to unleash upon a friend. However, a mere moment before she launched the attack a familiar ethereal figure appeared behind Yukari. It was Makoto, or at least that's who she believed it was, as it took Yukari into a tight embrace.

It seemed as though only Aigis noticed him as other two had yet to react. Though in that moment she finally understood what Yukari had meant by their bonds being different. Even if it was harsh, there was truth in her words. 

Because even dead Makoto still chose Yukari and that wouldn't ever change. Aigis noticed Makoto's spirit had been looking at her. 

"Thank you." He echoed out.

A satisfied smile formed on her face before finally launching the final blast; at last the battle was finally over. Brand new days were coming and she couldn't wait to get to them.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little different from the type of angst I like to tackle, mainly because I had to portray my favorite characters in a certain way to get to them where I needed them to be. Actually I think I'm one of the few who actually enjoyed Yukari's portrayal in the Answer because she out of everyone behaved the most human and was the most receptive to all the hurt and pain. At least that's my opinion.
> 
> Anyway that's all I have for now, so I hope you enjoyed and have yourself a good one!


End file.
